Steering device.



BATENTED MAY 28, 1907. W. E. GEYER. STEERING DEVICE. APPLIUATION TILEDMAY 19,1996.

2 K k i? v Evie-@121 mll icpmE.Geyer UNITED STATES WILLIAM E. GEYER, OFCAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS.

STEERING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 28, 1907.

Application filed Ma 19,1906. Serial No- 317,752.

To all whmn it may concern;

Be it known that I, WILLIAM E. GEYER, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Cambridge, in the county of Middlesex and State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inSteering Devices, of which the following is a specificationl In vaporlaunches and other small power boats, it is customary, as in largerwater craft, to locate the steerin apparatus near the stem of the boat,and-iaving the same consist of a transverse rack-bar terminally joinedto the tiller ropes and reciprocated by a pinion turned by a hand wheel.

The object of this invention is the construction of improved means forenabling such hand wheel to be readily adjusted to different angles forthe better convenience of the skipper.

Referring to the drawings forming part of this specification, Figure 1is a side sectional elevation 'on the line XX in Fig. 2. Fig.

2 is a sectional plan view on the line Y.Y in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is adiagrammatic view showing the hand wheel shaft'adjusted to anapproximately vertical position.

The hand wheel 1 is fixed upon the outer end of the shaft 2 at Whoseopposite end is a pinion 3. This shaft is mounted in bearings 11 and 12forming integral parts of a single casting 10, and'separated for asuitable space to receive said pinion. Said casting fits snugly betweenthe two leaves 25 of the base 26, and is held in place therein by thetwo hand-screws 20 penetrating said leaves and tapped into said casting10. These handscrews are axially apertured to receivethe cylindricalrack-bar 4 with which said pinion meshes said rack-bar and pinion beingtangential one relative to the other, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, topermit such engagement. Inasmuch as said hand-screws fit the leaves 25loosely, the casting 10, and hence the shaft 2, can be turned up anddown to any angle, and then by tightening up on said hand-screws, saidshaft and hand-wheel 1 will be fixed in the position desired; saidhand-screws being formed with shoulders 21 between which and the castingsaid leaves are firmly held.

To prevent any dirt, rope or garment-end from getting between the pinion3 and rackteeth 5, a sheet metal guard plate is bent bout the casting 10and fixed thereto by suitable screws 16, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

The base 26 being fixed to any suitable supiport, as the board 28forming a part of the era t, by means of screws 27, the hand-screws areunloosened and then tightened up again after the shaft 2 has been swungup or down to present the hand-wheel 1 at the proper position. As shownin Fig. 3, which shows the said shaft turned up nearly to a verticalposition, the cylindrical rack-bar 4 will turn with the pinion 3 andalways suitably present itself in mesh with the latter, since the saidrack-bar and the hand-screws 20 are concentric and the straight edges ofthe teeth of the pinion 3 force the rack-bar to turn with them.

As is evident, it is the work of only a moment to change this steeringwheel from one position to another, so that in a second or two theskipper can adjust the same to accommodate his hand from a sittingposture to one in which he is standing up, or even to one where he maywish to lie down, as might be the case at times.

To enable the steering wheel to be locked at any point, I form thebearing 11 with a tapered, threaded outer end, split two or three timesto give it compression, and mount thereon a nut 13. By forcibly turningsaid nut, said split bearing is made to clamp the shaft 2 at any desiredpoint of revolution.

What I claim as my invention and for which I desire Letters Patent is asfollows, to wit;

1. In a steering device, the combination with a, fixed base having twoprojections therefrom, of a member fitted between said projections, acylindrical rack-bar loosely supported in said member, a steering deviceand shaft having bearings in said member, a pinion fixed on said shaftand meshing with said rack-bar, bearings for said member in saidprojections substantially concentric with said rack-bar, and means forclamping oneor both of said projections against the adjacent side ofsaid member and thereby re taining the steering device and shaft at adesired angle.

2. In a steering device, the combination with a fixed base, of a"cylindrical rack-bar loosely supported thereby, a steering wheelandshaft, bearings for said shaft pivoted to said base concentric withsaid rack-bar, and a screws, a shaft having bearings composing parts ofsaid casting, a pinion fixed on said shaft between said bearings andmeshing with said rack-bar, and a hand-wheel at the outer end of saidshaft.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing invention, I have hereunto setmy hand this 18th day of May, 1906.

lVILlJI/U'll E. GIDYICR. itnesses H. H. LIILTON, A. B. UPHAM.

